Wheeling Sunday register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1882-1934, 1887-04-03
Ry ELIZA ARcHARD.
CoNTINUED
CHAPTER Nv.
II SILK COLONY

working and thinking for Others, calmness
OF soul came 10 Shirley.
Was her heart broken? Well, there was
much left in LIE still
II WAS her hard fate to be tied in thfs
n little village. LinwoOd il was to be,
for good or i'll She recognized her fate and
mSde the best Of it. At length she became
more warmly interested than she could
have believed in things about her.
The village improvement scheme was
only q part OF her laborS From long habit
OF thought her mind still followed the old
ideals OF her unwritten poem. She found
No calu, no time Vet to begin the poem.
II must be put Of still again. But mean
time, following the one golden thread Of
thought she uDoOnsciOusly turued to wo-
men.
During the lever Shirley found anon
the villagers a poverty and sn unhappineSs
that surprised her. Persons who have the
Of r~esPectability, however small, in
Sunetiyely put the best foot forward. Be
hind many 4 beat street garb a hungry
stomach sits and bowls i n secret
The specter Of sickness attacked the
households and shook out the hidden spec.
teTs in plain sight Shirley perceived con-
stantly a barrenneSs Of the commOnest
comforts, a lack even Of articles Of food
that was painful 70 her. II was the case
alike among the OyerWOrked farm wiye.
aDd.the idle, sadding village wives. Pow.
erty she herself knew, she thought. But
it was thar independent poverty which has
fertility OF resource, the poverty which
whe:S the edge OF struggle and aspiration.
From this kind Of poverty everything that
l. worth having in the world has come.
But those women, The larger part OF
the small things which Shirly thought a
civilized human being regarded Is neoes,
sites Of life were To them unknown lux,
urieS In such a bard, stupid poverty q
this. what hops,
Could nothing be done TO help them!
The question haunted Shirley. Could they
not somehow he put IN the way OF help
ing themselves. Verify there was little
that they might even hope for. An I'm,
trained grown woman in q village can dc
nothing 10 get money. Although there
was among them lack of 30 many Of the
small things that make life desirable, yea,
absolute want now and then, these wOmeI
had no lack Of time on their hands II Wa
the habit Of many OF them, women and
girls, TO sit and gaze idly out OF the win
dow. hour after hour. A little SpaSmOdic,
intermittent effort finished the small work
they were Obliged 70 do. For the rest,
nothing. They had no knowledge Of any
thing better and no incentive To action.
That was all there was IN life for them,
They had even no appreciation hat II Wa
a Siu 10 waste time 80. Their ldlsneSS and
poverty brought with IL 4 poverty Of SOU
that was most hopeless Of all.
Il waS al this period that public atten'
ton was first being generally called 10 the
beautiful silk weaving industry IN TIN;
country shirley herself had visited the
mills. and hven delighted a. auhody must
he with the exquisite fabrics wrought there
The wurEmeu showed her hlmy shining
threads from which the splendid fabric,
were made. These had all 10 be brought
over seas. they told her. IL Vas certain
the mulberry tree could De reared here al
home. and the six o produced. II
production OF raw silk was an industry
scarcely less beautiful than that Of weav'
inc the threads. and remuneratlve too. II
was not done IN America simply because
il was not done.
one dav. thinking Of the idle, Vet pow
erty stricken women che knew, Shirley
happened u recall what she had heard II
the six mills. She put the two together,
One more. processes are dull TO ont
siderS Therefore again We skip them.
There l. enough dullneSs in this world,
Lord knows, even after We get rid Of all
We can.
No. we will have only results, Tor the
present. The women silk colony Of LIN
wuri-b~h0ld-is IL not known 10 every
intelligent person in the land: An Intelll'
gent person i one who reads newspapers
Shirley o~btaIned.aIl the information pos
sihle. She planted her mulberry shoots
,b- cot her cocoonS and learned how tc
take care of them. Travlers on the now
much ir-uusntsd road past the stone house
n The village turned 10 watch again the
noble fyure and bent head Of the woman
who was ~ i~uteutly busy IN the grounds
ont there among her silk trees she might
well nave hen taken for the reincarnatlou
Of the Sple1did empress who inst intro
d1r,-d silk culture among her grateful PEG
ple and thence gave il To the world.
silk culture would have prOSPered II
America more than 20 pears ago, only
that tobacco rooted il out. 1t did not dc
- in LinwoOd. Shirley experimental WITH
her muIberrieS and silk worms till she was
successful. She taught tie secret 70 the
MCCLELLAN women. The new and graceful
e~mnIoyept spread among them. At length
the colony produced annually no inconsld'
cradle quantity Of raw silk OF an admT-
able quality.
The women and children did the work.
II brought hundredsO Of dollars 70 the poor
stingev little neighbOrhoOd. Weed patche>
hac4me mulberry gardens In trubh- there
was by and ny not a weed left IN that re-
non. LiuwOod became prosperous hand'
some and ambitious Articles OF taste
ha,utv and comfort were added yearly tC
tba hrmbIe homes The hard, poverty
stricken lives Of the women RloSSomed out
m they became new creatures under tbe
magic Of prosperity. They learned M"
a3-irshIe a thing II Is for a human being
IN earn his OWE money and spend II n he
pIeaseS They tasted the sweets oil moe
penPence.
The viIlaqe woman sloughed OF the idle,
Dss Of their wasted lives. In the round
of healthy. happy. paid work they forgot
the idle tllkee-talkee OF other wears. They
ont grew the spite, the narrow feminine
~ieaIousies. They could no longer spend
time from money getting 70 indulge IL
these peculiar little amuSementS
There was another good result.
The town became 3 general center OF IN
ter,st Foreigners visiting the country
and tourists from half over the continent
came there u see the women's silk colony.
Whether the looked at the handsome, tree
emhowered village itself, with Its clean
smooth streets aud tasteful homes me
novel successful industry that bad con
tnhuted 80 greatly to its prosperity, or al
n I'll lrnc.ol rirla and Phil